UT Tyler Office of Marketing and Communications

UT Tyler Named Worldwide ‘i2i Challenge’ Grant Recipient

Media Contact: Hannah Buchanan Public Affairs Specialist Marketing and Communications The University of Texas at Tyler 903.565.5769 or 903.539.7196 (cell)

May 7, 2012

The University of Texas at Tyler is one of 12 entities worldwide awarded a grant from
the Graduate Management Admission Council, Dr. Michael Odell, associate vice president
for sponsored research and director of federal relations, announced.

In the Ideas to Innovation Challenge, the council awarded Dr. Gus Gordon, UT Tyler
associate professor of accounting, a grant totaling nearly $35,000 for his proposal,
“Enhancing Relevance in the Graduate Business Curriculum through Factory Videos.”

His proposal was one of 25 finalists from seven countries. Other grantees include
business schools and organizations in the U.S., Canada, Spain, Italy, India and Botswana.

Gordon will use the grant to create a virtual manufacturing environment using video
feeds from his existing factory in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico. The feeds will illustrate
concepts taught in graduate management coursework. The six-month project will begin
in August and immerse students in the factory’s operations, increase the relevance
of classroom concepts and personalize the experience by introducing factory staff.

“Videos of factory operations will be narrated and linked to text and lecture material
to illustrate the application of concepts discussed in the textbook. This is an opportunity
for UT Tyler to once again be innovative in the classroom and make classes more relevant
for students. I am very pleased that both UT Tyler and GMAC are supporting this initiative,”
Gordon said.

A UT Tyler faculty member since 2008, Gordon holds a D.B.A. in accounting from Louisiana
Tech University. He owns the Mexico-based wardrobe manufacturing company Ganso Azul.

The i2i Challenge was created and managed by the GMAC’s Management Education for Tomorrow
Fund, a $10 million initiative to advance business education nationwide. It focuses
on innovation in management education and attracts ideas from students, faculty, schools
and businesses.

“The foundation of the MET Fund has been that GMAC should be investing in and giving
back to management education and its institutions. And not just giving back, but giving
back in order to move management education forward,” said David A. Wilson, president
and CEO of GMAC. “The power of these grants is in the implementation of ideas that
can reshape and revitalize management education worldwide, and that acknowledge the
critical role that management education plays in training and developing business
leaders who can have global impact.”

The Graduate Management Admission Council® is a nonprofit education organization of
leading graduate business schools and owner of the Graduate Management Admission Test,
used by more than 5,400 graduate business and management programs worldwide. GMAC
is based in Reston, Va., and has regional offices in London, New Delhi and Hong Kong.
For more information, visit GMAC.

One of the 15 campuses of the UT System, UT Tyler offers excellence in teaching, research,
artistic performance and community service. More than 80 undergraduate and graduate
degree programs are available at UT Tyler, which has an enrollment of almost 7,000
high-ability students at its campuses in Tyler, Longview and Palestine.